Noles News: ACC eliminates football divisions, FSU gets 2023 linebacker commit

Recruiting

Continuing with a recent streak of commitments, Florida State Seminoles football snagged the pledge of 2023 linebacker DeMarco Ward, who was part of a large contingency of visitors this last weekend in Tallahassee.

Ward accumulated nearly 80 tackles (65 of which were solo), three sacks, and an interception last season for Duluth High School and also plays wide receiver. He plays basketball and runs track in addition to his gridiron exploits.

Ward holds 10 offers, with fellow ACC teams Louisville, Wake Forest, and Duke as well as the UCF Knights and Memphis Tigers having extended offers.

2023 FSU QB commit Chris Parson had an impressive opening day at the Elite 11 quarterback showcase:

As always, for all things FSU recruiting, head on over to our transfer portal thread and our Florida State football recruiting thread, where you can catch up on the latest news and pick the brain of our recruiting staff.

Football

A major shakeup coming to the way that the ACC determines its football champion — rather than two divisions, each team will face off against a permanent 3 teams while rotating opponents to ensure a home and away every four years.

As part of the new arrangement, Florida State will be facing off against the Clemson Tigers, Miami (FL) Hurricanes, and Syracuse Orange yearly, and from 2023 to 2026 will face off against the following opponents:

2023

Home: Duke, Miami (FL), Syracuse, Virginia Tech

Away: Boston College, Clemson, Pitt, Wake Forest

2024

Home: Boston College, Clemson, North Carolina, NC State

Away: Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Syracuse, Virginia

2025

Home: Miami (FL), Pitt, Syracuse, Wake Forest

Away: Clemson, Duke, Louisville, Virginia Tech

2026

Home: Clemson, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Virginia

Away: Miami (FL), North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse

Basketball

FSU alum Natasha Howard earning her second career nomination to the WNBA All-Star team:

Baseball

All Sports

FSU track star Trey Cunningham became the second Nole in school history to be named a finalist for The Bowerman — one of three male finalists for college track and field’s most prominent individual award.

From FSU:

Cunningham put together one of the greatest indoor and outdoor seasons in NCAA history this past season. Cunningham swept the 60m hurdle and 110m hurdle national titles. He posted the second-fastest times in NCAA history in both events. Cunningham is ranked No. 11 in world history in the 60m hurdles and No. 23 in world history in the 110m hurdles. He was the first athlete in NCAA history to run 13.22 or faster nine times in the 110m hurdles. He was also the only athlete to run 7.42 or faster four times in the 60m hurdles. Of the three finalists, Cunningham is the only athlete to be undefeated against collegians in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Cunningham went 20-for-20 against collegiate competition.

VisionX, a real estate smartphone app created by a pair of FSU students that provides crucial information about homes and neighborhoods in real-time, has received grants, including $20,000 from the Domi Station business incubator in Tallahassee, and has cashed in on business pitch competitions, including FSU’s InNOLEvation Challenge, where it won $4,000 as the “Most Scalable Business.”

A team of Florida State University researchers has uncovered a way to use low-energy light to manipulate photopolymers or plastic films — a finding that has implications for a wide range of technologies that use light as an energy source to create shape-shifting structures.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Florida State University, University of Washington and The Ohio State University have discovered previously unknown chemical changes in a protein that contribute to a heart’s ability to function — a beta myosin protein. These proteins make up chains that give muscles, including the heart, the power to contract. Using special detection methods available through FSU’s Translational Science Laboratory, researchers discovered chemical changes called post-translational modifications occurring in the beta myosin proteins.